Familiar Territory

The atmosphere in the hangar is tense as the remaining rivals gather for one of the Chairman's most difficult challenges: the ingredient auction. Having survived the auction last season, Chefs Falkner and Guarnaschelli know what they're in for. "This was a really, really cool one, but a really stressful one," Chef Falkner reflects.

Paying With Time

Like at a standard auction, the rivals bid on one ingredient at a time, but instead of paying with cash, they trade minutes on the clock. "The objective is to get out with the maximum amount of time you can to cook those ingredients properly," Chef Guarnaschelli explains.

Smart Strategy

After being forced to cook leg of lamb in just 20 minutes last year, Chef Guarnaschelli changes her approach to the auction today. She bids on and wins the very first ingredient, bison ribs, and has 45 minutes to cook them. "I'm so excited," she says, very relieved.

Waiting for Risk

Given that this is a test of risk, Chef Mehta knows that he shouldn't settle for a supposedly safe ingredient and holds out on bidding until Alton reveals ostrich eggs. He and Chef Appleman exchange bids, but ultimately Chef Mehta wins the war and claims these extra-large eggs for 25 minutes.

Head in the Game

With 50 minutes on the clock, Chef Marcel sets off to butcher calves' heads, which are packed with flavorful but often tough tongue and cheek meat. His plan is to use the pressure cooker to make the beef soft and succulent quickly and serve it with braised leeks and polenta.

Scaly Situation

Chef Falkner has won paiche, an exotic fish, in the auction and has 50 minutes to cook it. She puts all parts of the fish to work in her dish by pan-roasting fillets, smoking the loin and making deep-fried chips with its scales. "This fish is a challenge for me. That's why I bid on it," she explains.

Technical Difficulties

Once again struggling to simply begin working with her ingredient, Chef Freitag wastes valuable moments of her 40 minutes trying to break open the wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano. After the inside is finally revealed, she gets to work preparing a cheese plate, featuring shortbread, soufflé and ice cream.

Man vs. Mortadella

Chef Appleman lobs off just a hunk of mortadella from this 180-pound monstrosity to use in his dish. Since he has only 20 minutes to cook, he has settled on making mortadella and polenta fritters and smooth mortadella mousse.

Egging Him On

This is Chef Mehta's first experience cooking ostrich eggs, and he has 25 minutes to make these thick-shelled beauties shine. He decides to feature the eggs in a side-by-side duo of soufflé and French toast ice cream, but Alton warns him of the pesky ice cream machine, "This device has meant doom for so many before you."

Falkner's Great Advantage

After last week's win, Chef Falkner is given the substantial advantage of judging her competitors and picking one to compete in the Showdown. With this power, she's reminded of
Super Chefs competitor Anne Burrell, who was ousted after she, too, had this advantage in last year's auction. "If it is an instant replay, I need to change the way the dice rolls at the end," Chef Falkner says.

Talking Tongue and Cheek

Come presentation time, it's a triple victory for Chef Vigneron, who receives stellar remarks about his calf-head preparation from all three of the judges, and he's named the overall winner of the challenge. "I actually proved that I deserve to be here," he reflects later.

Risky Reactions

Iron Chef Zakarian calls elements of Chef Alex's dish of bison steak and potatoes "to the book delicious," but the panel questions whether her only risk of the day — stealing beef tongue and fat from Chef Marcel's calf's head — is indeed a large enough risk to take in this test. She's ultimately pardoned, Alton says, because her offering is simply "the tastiest dish of the day."

Just Like Before

In the ultimate culinary coincidence, Chef Falkner, just like Chef Anne Burrell last year, is deemed by the judges the least successful rival of the day, and she's forced to compete in the Secret Ingredient Showdown against the rival she chose, Chef Appleman. "I can't believe I'm in this Showdown. I think there were other, weaker dishes," she explains.

Battle Anchovies

In a
Next Iron Chef first, the Chairman has looked to
Redemption fans to choose this week's Secret Ingredient, and they have responded in droves, voting for anchovies to be the star of the Showdown. "The good news is redemption is possible," Alton tells them. "The bad news is it'll only be possible for one of you."

Channeling Caesar

Chef Falkner begins her salute to anchovies by making Caesar dressing, which she says "is probably the most common thing that people have had anchovy in." She turns this dressing into chilled mini rounds and will serve them with fried anchovies and fregola, an Italian couscous, with sardines and saffron.

Spain By Way of Anchovies

"To a lot of people, anchovies are disgusting, but they pack a punch of flavor," Chef Appleman explains. He plans to feature their signature flavor in a Spanish tortilla with potatoes and tomato-topped bread with triple-anchovy aioli.

Appleman's Anchovy Triumph

The judges appreciate both chefs' use of anchovies, but they ultimately decide that Chef Appleman's dish has reigned supreme. He has "captured" Spain in his offering, Simon says, and Iron Chef Zakarian compliments him on "a really, really wonderful effort."

An Emotional Exit

Simply because of too much saffron in her fregola, Chef Falkner is eliminated from the competition after five hard-fought weeks. Reflecting on the elimination, she says, "There's something fantastical about Iron Chef. It is the only title that matters to me, so not having that really makes me mad."